


Flirt

by sunlightdances (glowinghorizons)



Category: Captain America (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: Awkward Flirting, F/M, Fluff, Unresolved Romantic Tension
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-01-31
Updated: 2019-01-31
Packaged: 2019-10-19 23:02:55
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 859
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17610707
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/glowinghorizons/pseuds/sunlightdances
Summary: Bucky Barnes is 100 years old.He doesn’t feel 100 years old. He doesn’t look it either, which he takes time to feel smug about for at least a few minutes every morning.He never really feels old until he has to interact with you.And– he’s making it sound like a chore, being around you, but that’s not really what he means. It’s just– he realizes after a few months of you hanging around and a few very pointed looks from Sam that you flirt with him pretty often.He also realizes that he wants to flirt back.The problem is that he doesn’t know how.





	Flirt

Bucky Barnes is 100 years old.

He doesn’t  _feel_  100 years old. He doesn’t look it either, which he takes time to feel smug about for at least a few minutes every morning.

He never really feels old until he has to interact with you.

And– he’s making it sound like a chore, being around you, but that’s not really what he means. It’s just– he realizes after a few months of you hanging around and a few  _very_  pointed looks from Sam that you flirt with him pretty often.

He also realizes that he wants to flirt back.

The problem is that he doesn’t know  _how_.

Well, no– that’s not right either. He knows how. Or at least he thought he did. He’ll be the first one to admit he’s out of practice. He doesn’t remember everything about his teens, but he has a vague memory of a roguish smile and blushing cheeks. He just doesn’t know how to get that kind of reaction out of you.

Steve is absolutely no help. In fact, he is the opposite of helping. Bucky Barnes yearns for the days when  _he_  was the one teasing Steve about his complete inability to speak to a woman.

“Morning,” you say as you walk into the kitchen in the compound, still rubbing the sleep out of your eyes.

“Uh, hi–” Bucky says, half-choking on his coffee, “Hello. Good morning.” He waits until you turn around to grab a coffee mug before scrunching his face in confusion –  _what the hell was that_?

“Have you been up long?”

“A few hours.” It had been another near sleepless night for Bucky. You don’t need to know that, though.

You fill up your coffee mug and frown at him. He wants to kiss that frown right off your face. He takes a minute to admire you as the sunlight starts to stream in through the large floor-to-ceiling windows, and he wonders for a second if you actually know how beautiful you are.

“Any plans tonight?” You ask, clearly just making conversation, but Bucky’s brain goes into overdrive.

“Uh… no, no plans. Why? Do you have plans? Are you– should I have plans?”

You smirk at him, and he wants to just get swallowed up whole. Like, the gates of hell could open right now, right underneath him, and he wouldn’t mind.

He rolls his eyes at himself, and waits semi-patiently for your reply.

“I was just asking because there’s a movie festival going on in Brooklyn, and I thought you might want to check it out. If you don’t have plans.”

Can you hear Bucky’s heart rate increasing, he wonders? Because this sounds like a date. It sounds like a date, and he’s sort of freaking out. A little.

“I–” He takes a deep breath, “Yeah. I mean, if you’re offering. I’d love to go.” He wants to cheer himself. A normal sentence, for once!

“Great! Pick me up at 7.” You say, and  _wink_  at him before you leave, and he lets his head drop down onto the tabletop.

What  _happened_  to him?

.

.

.

He’s been standing at your door for almost 5 minutes.

_Just knock_ , he’s screaming at himself. He feels nervous. Bucky Barnes does not get nervous.

He finally knocks. He’s waiting, and he hates waiting, and then the door opens, and you’re there, and you completely knock the breath out of him. You know those cartoons where the character’s eyes turn into hearts? That’s him.

You smile at him, and he finds himself smiling back, and it’s almost like he can remember how to do this. It’s almost like he doesn’t get knocked on his ass every time you so much as look at him.

You decide to take the train. Normally Bucky would be worried about it, but he knows with you there, he’s more likely to be calm, or as calm as he can get around hordes of people in a public place. It’s better than he expected. The conversation is easy and he makes you laugh a few times, and he feels like he’s floating on air.

At the theater in Brooklyn, the two of you are waiting in line to buy tickets when he notices you’re fidgeting.

“Can I tell you something?” You ask, not meeting his eyes.

“Uh, sure. Yeah. Of course.”

“I… I sort of meant this as a date.” You blush, and he can’t take his eyes off you. “I didn’t know how to ask, and you… you make me so  _nervous_ –”

“I make  _you_  nervous?” He interrupts. “Sweetheart, I’m so damn tongue tied around you I don’t even know what to do with myself.”

“Really?”

God, he wants to kiss you.

“Yeah, really.” He reaches for your hand, feeling a burst of confidence.

“So… we can consider this our first date, then?”

Like he’d ever deny you anything. “Yeah. Yes. Definitely.”

He doesn’t let go of your hand, all the way through the movies. He tries to trick himself into thinking he’s still got it, but he knows deep down it was all you.

He doesn’t think he could ever forget this night even if he tried.


End file.
